11 Attractions in District 21 @ IOI CITY MALL

Been to IOI City Mall and still wondering what is District 21?? District 21 is an Active Leisure Park located in a 70,000 sq.ft. indoor atrium inside IOI City Mall Putrajaya. Not only District 21 is a themed family entertainment centre (FEC) where all attractions are based on active participation you can definitely be the guardian or join the adventure together and engage more with your childrens.

Space-ship themed entrance to District 21 Theme Park @ IOI City Mall

District 21 has this recycled and repaired environment where the deconstructed interior has intestinally exposed all M&E works visible. Material that was not recycled had been been rendered to appear weather and aged. The walls of the lobby are graffiti bombed provided a stark contrast to the clean new finishings of the mall concourse. The resulting look gives the impression of a once abandoned building that’s been left in a ruin.

After looking at the recent photos people posting up, it seems like District 21 will be a fun place to hang out with friends and definitely good for team building. Below are the eleven attractions mentioned in the video and hopefully there are some things that attracted you. If your children are interested to play but you just wanna look at the side, you don't need to pay full price to be around your children. Now lets see what's available inside District 21 @ IOI City Mall first before I share bout ticketing info:

Incorporating 11 adventure attractions, many of which have never been seen in Asia. District21 offers activities for all visitors to get you climbing, jumping, riding, sliding and flying. The 11 adventure attractions including Wall climbing, Roller glider, Go Pedal, Pump Track, Low Ropes, Trampoline, The Maze, Free fall ( buggy jumping), Sky Trail, Tubby Ride and Carousel. 

Before accessing the park, all visitors must pass through a decontamination chamber. This 2-stage process is aimed to provide all park users a safety briefing and glimpse the story behind District21. You will be given a pair of District 21 socks and glove to protect yourself during the adventure.

District 21 Attraction Overview:

The 11 attractions available in District 21 @ IOI City Mall range from established products such as the High Ropes course, interactive climbing (Power Station), Launch Pad (Trampoline), Tubby Ride, Free Fall, to unique bespoke attractions like the Floating Maze, Pump track, Go Pedal and the world’s first – The Roller Glider.

Wall Climbing/Power Station @ District 21

1. Wall Climbing/Power Station @ District 21

There will be seven types of wall for you to climb and each of them has different level of difficulty. All climbing walls are equipped with auto belays for increased safety. Many of the wall are interactive and require problem solving skill as part of the challenge. Safety flooring is provided throughout the climbing area for additional safety.

Good if you want to train your leg and shoulder muscle. Do note that it is more important to climb the wall using your leg energy instead of just forelimbs. This can safe you lots of energy.

Roller Glider @ District 21

2. Roller Glider @ District 21

The Roller Glider is a world first attraction, a mix of zip line and coaster. Instead of zipping down a cable thetrolley runs along a pipe allowing the closed loop course to take curves. This way the riders enjoy additional G-Forces of a coaster with the thrill of a zip line.

Below is a video of people playing the Roller Glider. Seems fun and I really wanna try this!!

Video credit to Deivanai Thayagarajan‎

Go Pedal @ District 21

3. Go Pedal @ District 21

Human-powered karts that add fun elements to the Go Kart Experience. The 100m track offers you chance to test your speed and skill. With different size of pedal carts race can be divided by group

4. Pump Track @ District 21

A pump track is an undulating ourse of bumps, jumps, and berms designed to allow you to ride continuously without pedalling. Riders can choose their preference including bike, scooter or skateboard. Helmets, knee and elbow pads will be worn by all riders to ensure safety.

Low Ropes @ District 21

5. Low Ropes @ District 21

Low Ropes is a scaled down version of the Sky Trail, they are designed specifically for younger park visitors. The continuous belay system allow kids to navigate the 7 element course without need to detach from the safety equipments.

Trampoline/Launch Pad @ District 21

6. Trampoline/Launch Pad @ District 21

Launch Pad is the right place for you to play, jump and practice your slam dunk skill on the large trampoline field. It is suitable for all ages and this is very fun to do when you jumping around and do the ninja moves

The Maze @ District 21

7. The Maze @ District 21

The maze is a series of place where you need to navigate through a vertical labyrinth of tunnels, cages and funky challenges. The maze is located 10m above ground so it will be challenging and fun. This maze is completely enclosed thus removing the hardness will be required. A scaled down ersion is also available for younger kids.

8. Free Fall @ District 21

A free fall jump platform that provides you a simulation experience comparable to a parachute jump out of an airplane. Based on the video footage I saw, it is not as fast as bungy jump so you can definitely start form here if you are scare of height. Just imagine you are the ninja warriors in Hong Kong TV dramas jumping on the rooftop.

Sky Trail @ District 21

9. Sky Trail @ District 21

Sky Trail is by far the largest indoor rope challenge course in Malaysia. This challenge offers 23 elements of varying difficulty in a layer course enabling patrons to choose their level of challenge. This is much challenging that Free Fall I guess.

Tubby Ride @ District 21

10. Tubby Ride @ District 21

Tubby Ride has a special surface that patrons will able to experience the same sensation like sliding down a snow bank on an inner tube. The tubes can be used individually, double or in a convoy. So far I saw quite a lot videos on Instagram. Seems fun.

Carousel @ District 21

11. Carousel @ District 21

This 24 seaters carousel is built with wide array of animal figures. Not only horses, but also wild animals like tiger, deer, sled and many more. According to a visitor it is RM5 per ride.

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Interesting structure inside District 21 @ IOI City Mall, Putrajaya

District 21 Indoor Theme Park Admission Fees & Price:

Entry price for adult to District 21 is RM75/entry. If you’re parents or guardian who just want to look at children playing, the price is RM15/entry. Like Icescape Ice Rink, there will be different prices during peak/off-peak hours. For kids that are not higher than 90cm, they will able to play for free.

District 21 opening hour: 
10am to 10pm daily

For latest information about District 21 Adventurous Indoor Theme Park, do visit District 21 Facebook Page. It seems like they are having a "Name and Brag" contest giving away District 21 premiums and ticket passes by giving name to a Cyborg. Go ahead and join to win passes for two. YOu can easily save RM150 if you win their contest.

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Low- and Low-medium Cost Apartment Residents Have to Pay GST for Maintenance Despite Exemption

Residents living in low-and low-medium-cost apartments will have to fork out more for management fees due to a loophole in the GST Act, say property groups. – The Malaysian Insider filepic, December 11, 2014.

Low- and low-medium-cost apartment residents will still be burdened with higher maintenance costs when the goods and services tax (GST) kicks in, a registered property manager said today.

is contrary to the tax exempt supply list in which management fees for these apartments is listed.

Association of Valuers, Property Managers, Estate Agents and Property Consultants in the Private Sector, Malaysia (PEPS) advisor Wong Kok Soo said that these residents would still be exposed to GST passed on to them from the services provided by the likes of technicians and repairmen.

Only goods and services on the zero-rated supply list can claim from Customs the GST incurred through payments to service providers, known as input tax.

"So the net effect is (low- and low-medium cost housing) residents will be paying 6% of their maintenance charges to the government as tax," Wong said at a press conference in Petaling Jaya today.

This meant that there would be no relief to the lower income group, despite their residential developments being listed under the exempt supply list.

"The government thinks that they have relieved those living in low- and low-medium-cost stratified units and therefore they should be happy.

"But the reality is they are now forced to increase their maintenance collection by 6% because they have to pay higher bills to the service providers for maintenance," he said. 

National House Buyers Association (HBA) honorary secretary Chang Kim Loong said that the scenario has turned out to be unfortunate for low- and low-medium-cost apartment dwellers.

"There is obviously lack of thought in the planning of GST and some were very ill-advised and didn't understand the entire concept of giving exemptions," he said.

Chang said that HBA, PEPS, the Royal Institution of Surveyors Malaysia (RISM) and the Malaysian Institute of Professional Property Managers (MIPPM) had sent a petition to Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak earlier this month pointing out the problems with the low- and low-medium-cost stratified apartments.

These property industry groups want the government to exempt all categories of stratified properties from GST on management fees.

In the petition, they said it was unfair for other categories of stratified developments to be subjected to GST under the standard rated tax supply.

Other than low- and low-medium-cost stratified developments, those living in other categories of strata property would have to pay GST on their maintenance fees.

Under this standard-rated scheme, one can claim refund of GST input tax (imposed by service providers) from Customs.

But Wong said it was unfair to have to pay GST on their maintenance fees as they were contributing their own monies to maintain, upkeep, refurbish, upgrade and safeguard their own common property.

Wong pointed out that the Joint Management Body (JMB) or the Management Corporation (MC) is formed as a voluntary body by owners to maintain and upkeep common property with monies collected from property owners.

He added that the Income Tax Department recognised maintenance collection in strata developments as mutual income and not subject to income tax.

"So why are they subject to GST," he asked.

According to Wong, the GST Act lists JMB and MC as carrying out a business, despite it was not for pecuniary profit.

Wong said the effect of higher maintenance costs would mean that levels of maintenance, especially for the lower category of strata developments, would decline due to lack of funds.

He added that for strata developments, there is always insufficient collection of maintenance fees, giving the example of medium-cost apartments where the collection rate is only 40% to 60%.

However, GST needs to be paid based on 100% billing and not actual collection.

In their petition to the prime minister, the coalition wants all categories of strata properties to be put under the zero-rated list, noting that this would require an amendment to the GST Act, as the law currently states that only essential goods are categorised under zero-rated tax supply. – December 11, 2014.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/flat-residents-have-to-pay-gst-for-maintenance-despite-exemption#sthash.d1tnEWL6.dpuf

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Base Rate to replace BLR from Jan 2: Bank Negara

KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara Malaysia will replace the Base Lending Rate with the Base Rate from Jan 2, 2015 as the main reference rate for new retail floating rates.

The central bank said on Wednesday the new reference rate framework would provide a more transparent reference rate so consumers could make better decisions when choosing the many loan products offered by financial institutions.

“The new reference rate will also better reflect changes in cost arising from monetary policy and market funding conditions, while encouraging greater discipline and efficiency among financial institutions in the pricing of retail financing products,” it said.

BNM said the Base Rate would be determined by the financial institutions’ benchmark cost of funds and the Statutory Reserve Requirement (SRR).

Other factors in the loan pricing are borrower credit risk, liquidity risk premium, operating costs and profit margin which will be reflected in a spread above the Base Rate.

The Base Rate will be used for new retail floating rate loans and the refinancing of existing loans extended from Jan 2, 2015 onwards.

BNM pointed out the shift towards the new reference rate framework should not have an impact on the effective lending rates charging to retail borrowers.

“It is also important to note that the changes do not represent a change in the bank’s (BNM) monetary policy stance,” it said.

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River of Life project on track

KUALA LUMPUR: SOME 53 per cent of cleaning and 14 per cent of beautification works on the River of Life (RoL) project has been completed.

Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, who visited the site yesterday, said it was not far behind the original schedule of 54 per cent for cleaning and 17 per cent for beautification works.

“Of the total RM2.98 billion allocated for the cleaning work, about RM713.45 million has been spent and of the RM1 billion allocated for the beautification work, RM67,853 has been spent.

“We are focusing on Precinct 7, which is the heritage area that includes Masjid Jamek, China Town and Dataran Merdeka.

“Of the 60 packages in the RoL project, one has been completed — the Heritage Trail, from Lebuh Pasar, Jalan Tun HS Lee to Jalan Kasturi. The other five packages are ongoing, while 10 others are still being designed.

“It is hoped that this project spurs real estate development along the river and attracts new investments in the city,” he said.

Besides initiatives carried out by government agencies to achieve cleaner rivers, Tengku Adnan said the public could do its part by not littering.

“All must be committed and refrain from treating our rivers as a dumping ground.”

The visit also included Wisma Karangkraf, which will be converted into an open air public square, as well as the area behind Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad, which is being developed into a Guiding Gallery, comprising three galleries with a deck overlooking the Klang river.

The visit included a view of the restoration works for the supporting waterway structures alongside St Mary’s Cathedral near Dataran Merdeka.

As part of the project, river cleaning initiatives are ongoing along a 110km stretch of the Klang river to improve water quality standards from Class III, which is not suitable for body contact and consumption, to Class IIb for recreational activities by 2020.

Among the efforts undertaken for the cleaning process were the installation of communal grease traps to reduce oil and grease levels, pollutant traps to tackle floating items in the rivers, as well as the establishment of waste water and river water treatment plants at selected sites.

Present were mayor Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal Talib, Federal Territories deputy secretary-general (planning and development) Datuk Mohd Sani Mistam and Malaysia’s Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) director of Greater Kuala Lumpur Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah.

RoL is one of nine Entry Point Projects under the government’s National Key Economic Areas to transform Greater Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley into a world-class urban conurbation with excellent economic growth.

The project is carried out in three phases — cleaning, beautification and development along the 10.7km stretch of the Klang and Gombak rivers.

The project starts at the first precinct in the north of KL, in Kampung Puah, and ends in Brickfields, covering 11 precincts in total.

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LDP Users, Take Note Of These Changes Starting Monday Dec 8

Image credit: Wikipedia

In an effort to ease traffic congestion along the Damansara-Puchong Highway (LDP), Lingkaran Trans Kota Holdings Bhd, has announced that a contra-flow traffic system will be implemented on a three month trial beginning December 8 (next Monday) until February 27 next year.

According to The Star, the concessionaire of the LDP said with a contra-flow traffic system, highway users from Puchong, Putrajaya and Shah Alam heading towards Kelana Jaya will be able to bypass the heavy traffic between Puchong Jaya and the Petaling Jaya Toll Plaza during the morning peak traffic flow.

A contra-flow lane will start at KM21 (Kelana Jaya-bound) on the LDP, opposite UOB and HSBC banks, after the IOI Mall) with the exit at KM18.

The contra-flow lane is only for light vehicles and Touch ‘n Go users, and will run on weekdays from 6.30am to 9.30am, excluding public holidays. Users should also keep the rightmost lane to enter the contra-flow lane.

Also, Plaza A Toll at the Petaling Jaya Toll Plaza in the opposite direction from Sunway will be closed to facilitate the contra flow.

If you’re coming from Sunway and headed to Puchong or KESAS, please use Plaza B during the contra-flow.

Litrak chief executive officer Sazally Saidi said two trial runs held in April and June last year aimed to identify the potential problems with the current traffic flow and the contra-flow system is expected to benefit some 5,000 motorist daily at the northbound Petaling Jaya toll plaza during the usual morning peak hours.

He added, “Litrak has already added bunting and signages along the highway to inform and guide highway users about the contra-flow.” The Highway Ronda team will be stationed at strategic locations and motorists are advised to follow the signages for guidance.

For more information, please contact the LDP Helpline at 03-7494 7333 for further details. Alternatively, you can visit the Litrak website here.

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How the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line Underground Stations look like after Completion?

Check it out..!!

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RON95 may be priced at RM2.26 per litre

KUALA LUMPUR: THE price of RON95 petrol for the month of December is likely to be reduced by four sen, bringing the price to RM2.26 per litre from Monday.

Sources told the New Sunday Times that for the same period, RON97 is expected to cost RM2.46 after the government agreed to lower its price by nine sen.

The price of diesel, however, will see a three-sen increase from the current RM2.20 per litre.

Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Alias Ahmad said an official announcement on the increase would be made at 8pm today.

The current price of RON95 is RM2.30 per litre.

“The ministry will issue a notice on the new fuel prices to oil companies and petrol station dealers at 8pm tomorrow (today), and will take effect from 12.01am on Dec 1 (Monday),” said Alias.

“We have been monitoring the global fuel price for the month of November and there has been a downward trend. The price of Brent crude is now hovering around US$70 (RM236.77) per barrel.

“There should not be an increase in global oil prices, given that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries had not indicated any reduction in exports,” he told the NST yesterday.

On Nov 21, its minister, Datuk Seri Hasan Malek, had said fuel subsidies for RON95 and diesel would be removed from Dec 1 following the implementation of a managed float system, similar to that used on RON97.

Under the system, the monthly average of the world crude oil price would determine the retail fuel prices of the following month.

Alias said in the event of an increase in fuel prices, 1,900 ministry enforcement officials had been tasked with ensuring traders did not hike up the prices of goods, especially of essential items.

This, he said, would be carried out under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011.

“Traders usually take advantage of any hike in fuel prices. By right, they should reduce the price of goods if fuel prices decrease, but the cost of an item depends on many factors that we will have to study.

“The ministry will issue a notice to traders who have increased their prices and require them to reply to us within 14 days to justify the hike,” said Alias.

“If they fail to do so, offenders can be brought to court and fined up to RM100,000 or imprisoned for not more than three years, or both.

“Companies can be fined up to RM250,000 for the first offence and up to RM500,000 for subsequent offences.”

Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations vice-president Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman said traders should reduce the price of items following a reduction in fuel prices.

“If the fuel price decreases, we expect it to benefit the people, similar to how a cut in fuel subsidies had led to an increase in prices.

“One of the reasons for a price hike is the transportation 
cost. Hence, if the transportation cost is reduced, prices should go down.

“For example, the price of express bus tickets should also be reduced when there is a drop in oil prices, as the sector is directly
affected by it,” Yusof said, adding that he hoped the government would put in place stringent 
measures to monitor market prices.

Yusof said money saved from the removal of subsidies could be used to upgrade the public transport system.

- article from www.nst.com.my/node/57793

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Sunway to build international school in Iskandar region

NUSAJAYA: Kota Iskandar here will have an international school to cater for the community’s needs.

The second Sunway International School (SIS) located in the Sunway Iskandar project, will be built at a cost of RM40mil and is expected to open by 2017. The first SIS is in Bandar Sunway in Selangor.

“With SIS Iskandar, we are confident that residents here will have the privilege of a world-class education which will help shape the holistic lifestyle of the community,” said Sunway’s property and construction for the southern region and Singapore executive director Tan Wee Bee.

Tan was speaking at a media briefing on the school project yesterday.

When completed, the school will offer the Canadian (Ontario) curriculum, which is rated as one of the world’s best school systems.

SIS is a candidate school for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.

The construction of the school’s five blocks, including a hostel unit for its students, will commence by the first quarter of next year.

Located on a 2.83ha site, the school fits in Sunway’s master plan to develop the area into a world-class city balanced with the beauty of nature.

Sunway education group senior executive director Dr Elizabeth Lee said the school would offer early education, primary, secondary and pre-university programmes.

The only other international school in Kota Iskandar now is Marlborough College

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Finalised names of 31 MRT stations revealed

PETALING JAYA: The finalised names of all 31 stations along the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Sungai Buloh-Kajang line have been revealed.

MRT Corp CEO Datuk Wira Azhar Abdul Hamid said the names reflected the locality of the stations along the route, also known as Line 1.

"A commuter should know where he is when he arrives at any MRT station, and this is why we have tweaked the provisional MRT station names," Azhar said, adding that the Prime Minister had personally approved the final list.

Major changes include naming the Kampung Baru Sungai Buloh station (next to the Sungai Buloh station) as Kampung Selamat.

The KL Sentral station will be named Muzium Negara, as the footprint of the station is actually at the door of the National Museum, while Tun Razak Exchange will be the final name for the interchange station formerly known as Pasar Rakyat.

Here is the full list of the 31 finalised station names (provisional names in brackets, those without are unchanged).

1. Sungai Buloh
2. Kampung Selamat (Kampung Baru Sungai Buloh)
3. Kwasa Damansara (Kota Damansara)
4. Kwasa Sentral (Taman Industri Sungai Buloh)
5. Kota Damansara (PJU5)
6. Surian (Dataran Sunway)
7. Mutiara Damansara (The Curve)
8. Bandar Utama (One Utama)
9. Taman Tun Dr Ismail
10. Phileo Damansara (Seksyen 16)
11. Pusat Bandar Damansara
12. Semantan
13. Muzium Negara (KL Sentral)
14. Pasar Seni
15. Merdeka (Stesen Merdeka)
16. Bukit Bintang (Bukit Bintang Sentral)
17. Tun Razak Exchange (Pasar Rakyat)
18. Cochrane
19. Maluri
20. Taman Pertama (Taman Bukit Ria)
21. Taman Midah (Taman Bukit Mewah)
22. Taman Mutiara (Leisure Mall)
23. Taman Connaught (Plaza Phoenix)
24. Taman Suntex
25. Sri Raya (Taman Cuepacs)
26. Bandar Tun Hussein Onn
27. Bukit Dukung (Balakong)
28. Taman Koperasi Cuepacs (Taman Koperasi)
29. Sungai Kantan (Saujana Impian)
30. Bandar Kajang
31. Kajang

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House buyers, learn your rights

I RECENTLY moved into our new house in Sungai Ramal Dalam. I bought the property back in 2012 and we received the vacant possession in January this year.

The journey towards moving into this property has not been a smooth one and I thought I should share some of the lessons.

When I first visited the site in 2012, only the show house was available for viewing. All the other units were blocked off because they were still under construction.

So the purchase was under the “sell-then-build” scheme. The developer sells a property that is not yet built, and the buyer pays for something depicted by the show unit, but in reality you don’t really know what you will get. The developer advertised it as a gated and guarded community of just 26 houses, and the show unit was quite decent.

We liked the concept and decided to go ahead anyway, despite a friend expressing doubts about the reliability of the developer because they are just a small company.

Skip forward to January this year: a letter arrived saying that the time had come for me to take the keys, or in jargon-speak, to take over the vacant possession. When I went to the developer’s office in Hulu Kelang, I was told to sign a letter confirming that I agreed to accept the property.

They also told me that the Certificate of Completion and Compliance (formerly called the CF) should be ready within two weeks and I should not do any renovation or move in before receiving it.

It was soon after this that problems started to occur. When I inspected the property more thoroughly, I discovered that the property was not yet satisfactorily completed.

Taps and doorknobs were missing. Some tiles were not properly fitted. The window frames were of different shades. Electrical sockets were not installed. The back garden slopes with a gradient that renders the area more or less unusable.

And the developer has not even applied for permission to build a gated and guarded community, despite advertising it in their sales brochure.

To make matters worse, the CCC did not arrive within the promised two weeks. I only received it last June. Throughout all this, I sent notice after notice to the developer asking them to rectify the defects.

They were extremely slow to respond. It was only then that I realised I should not have accepted the vacant possession without the CCC.

I then found the National House Buyers Association, and met with their secretary-general Chang Kim Loong who happens to be a fellow columnist in this newspaper. I learnt a tremendous amount from him and let me share some of the lessons here. If you are planning to buy a property and you don’t want to face the problems that I am having now, I suggest you read on.

Firstly when you buy a property, you should get the Sale and Purchase Agreement (S&P) checked by someone with proper knowledge, or appoint your own lawyer.

The two lawyers you deal with at the early stages represent your bank and the developer. They don’t represent you and they don’t have your interest at heart. You need your own lawyer.

Secondly, read the S&P yourself, carefully. With the benefit of hindsight, I am amazed at how I simply signed on the dotted line without reading the papers carefully first.

The document contains important information about your rights. And you should read it in greater detail if the developer says to you that the S&P is “just a formality”.

Thirdly, learn your rights as well as the procedures in the purchase.

If only I had taken some time to learn the ropes, I would have known that I should be extremely worried if a developer hands over vacant possession without a CCC (and promises you he will get it done within two weeks). Even more so when they start saying things like “we are all Malays and we should help each other”. Fourth, the sell-then-build scheme benefits mainly the developers and not necessarily the consumers. You are being asked to pay for something that is not even built yet and you never really know what you will eventually get. If the developer is rogue, then what you pay for is not necessarily what you will get.

In my case, the show unit has a concrete wall in the backyard, but my unit has just wire fencing. When I asked the developer, he responded that the S&P does not compel him to build a unit that is exactly the same as the show unit. Since it was a sell-then-build scheme, there is not much that I can do.

Recently Urban Wellbeing, Hou­sing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan an­­­nounced that he wants to allow developers to choose between sell-then-build and build-then-sell. He is effectively doing a U-turn because the previous minister wanted to make build-then-sell compulsory.

Of course, developers love the sell-then-build scheme because they get the cash in advance. Risks are transferred to buyers.

Fifth, despite the U-turn policy, the Housing Ministry is actually quite effective in dealing with consumer complaints. I have had a very good experience in dealing with the National Housing Department and the Tribunal for Homebuyer’s Claims (TTPR). The processes to submit a claim through the TTPR are simple enough to understand even for a layperson like me. The TTPR is also very transparent.

My case hearing was conducted in public and if you go to the tribunal’s website, you can find information about the claim that I filed. This transparency allows everyone to learn from the experience of others.

Let me end by saying that buying a house is probably the most expensive purchase you will ever make. You really should learn your rights.

If you find yourself dealing with a situation like I am in now, then you must not let the developer off the hook. Get advice from the brilliant team at the National House Buyers’ Association. Take the developer to the TTPR. And report them to the National Housing Department.

You should not despair because there are mechanisms to help protect you, including those instituted by the Government, as long as you are willing to take the initiative.

> Wan Saiful Wan Jan is chief executive of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (www.ideas.org.my). The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own.

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